𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
[ all that remains; part two ]
━━━━━━━━━━
Kassidy was tossing and turning due to the same nightmare she'd been having for the last two years. The night when Clementine and Kassidy got kidnapped, the alleyway where her father and Ben got eaten, Lee's death.
Kassidy jolted awake from the terrible dream to see that she had been stuffed into a room, it looked like a log cabin. Her brows furrowed in confusion as panic began to lace her thoughts. Where- where the hell was she? Kass sat up, trying to stand, but her head had been hurting too much.
The girl heard the sound of creaking hinged and her head whipped around to face the door. It was a man in a yellow and orange flannel shirt, he had shaggy black hair and a mustache.
Kass immediately jumped up and reached for the pencil that was on the nightstand next to her, "B-back off!"
"Hey, easy," the man tried to sooth her. "I'm not gonna hurt you." The man had an accent, he sounded some sort of Hispanic.
"Yeah, and how do I know that?" Kass snapped defensively, eyes trained on him like a hawk.
"I wouldn't have helped you. My name is Carlos. Who are you?" the man, now known as Carlos, introduced.
"Kassidy... How long was I out for?" she asked him, wearily glancing around.
"About... Let's see..." Carol stopped to think to himself. "Almost ten hours you were out. Why were you washed up in the river like that for?" he asked.
Kass frowned, "Oh..." she paused, suddenly remembering the situation at hand. "A group of men showed up at our camp and attacked us. We escaped and had to jump into the river. My friend is still out there, I have to find her. So could you please let me go? You'll never see me again if you do."
Carlos thought for a moment before nodding. He held out the plate of food, "At least eat before you go and find your friend."
Kassidy's eyes widened at the sight of food. She snatched the plate and immediately started scarfing it down.
Carlos watched the girl with weary eyes, "Now... I know it's none of my business, but what group were you and your friend a part of?"
Kassidy stopped eating and stared at him with a confused face. She swallowed the food, responding, "Just me, Clem, and Christa."
The door opened, making the brunette teen flinch, but it was only a guy, no older than his mid-20s, wearing an orange sweater and a machete on his back, panting. "Carlos... outside... dog bite."
Carlos went to make his way outside, but stopped Kassidy before she could leave the room. "Get some food in your stomach," he told her. "Wait here and I'll be back." He walked out of the door and outside to find out what the cause of the commotion was.
"I'm not staying here, I've gotta find Clementine in case those crazy men in the woods find her," Kass muttered, scoffing.
BANG!
Kassidy flinched in surprise as a gunshot went off outside. She jumped up and ran outside, the same guy from before rushing out of the house in front of her. "Woah, woah, what the fuck?" he yelled.
"You idiot! Every lurker for five miles probably heard that!" A woman's voice snapped.
"You're the one telling me to fucking shoot her!" Another voice exclaimed, a man this time.
The group were gathered around something. Three guys Kass hadn't seen before- a balding, older white man, another white man in his mid-20s wearing a baseball cap with dark long who was holding a rifle, and another man with a darker skin tone, glasses and round stomach. There was a pregnant woman beside him and a teen boy with blue eyes, a jagged scar that ran across his cheek who was about Kassidy's age and had a pistol in his holster.
Kassidy walked over to get a closer look when the pregnant woman saw her and scoffed, "Oh, and look who's awake. Our other problem!"
The teenage boy beside her rubbed the bridge of his nose, scrunching his eyes, "Rebecca, we can deal with that one later."
The man beside the pregnant woman stepped in the middle of everyone, "Everyone just calm down for a minute."
The guy with the machete beside Kass ran down to the group as she stayed up on the porch. "Clementine, are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm not working for anyone. I don't know what you're all talking about..."
Kassidy's eyes widened. "Clementine? Wait-"
"You two know each other?" Carlos asked.
Rebecca scoffed, rolling her eyes, "They're probably both here on Carver's orders."
Kassidy ran down the steps and saw her. She had blood all over her and she held her left arm. Once she saw Kass, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "Oh, my God, Clem?" Kass ran over to her, but stopped herself from hugging her, as it would probably hurt her arm. "Sorry, hugs once that's fixed. What the hell happened?"
Clem muttered with tired eyes, "I was bitten by a dog."
"Dog bite my ass!"
Clementine looked at Kass with sad eyes, in a way she was telling her to help her, which of course she would. "Clem, kid, look at me for a second."
Clementine and Kass looked each other in the eyes, which weren't glossing over with film. Kass put her hand on Clem's forehead which didn't feel hot.
The guy in the cap stepped forward, "There's no way either of you survived out here on your own."
"Well, we have." Kass turned to the others, "Also, you need to calm the fuck down. She's a scared fucking kid."
"We're all scared," Rebecca said. "We're not being crazy just because we don't buy either of your bullshit stories."
Carlos took a cautious step toward Clementine, "Let me have a look."
Clem shot a nervous look toward Kass who only looked at her, shrugging, "He's a doctor. The only nice person here, it seems."
Clementine pulled back the sleeve of her shirt, revealing a deep cut. You could see the muscle and blood.
"Damn," the black man frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and hissing. "That must have hurt."
Carlos knelt down, taking a closer look at Clem's arm. "Whatever it was, it got you good."
The guy in the cap took a step towards Clementine, but Luke and Kass stepped in front of her. "This isn't how we do things, man," he said. "If you're bit, you get put down, end of story. I'm not going through this again."
The teen beside him flinched, looking around with panicked eyes, "We can't, Luke! Listen to Nick!"
Luke shoon his head, "Nick, Oliver, calm down! No one's suggesting that."
"We could take her arm off," the balding man said, and everyone looked at him as Clem gasped.
"No!" Kassidy scoffed, a scared look of panic on her and Clem's faces. "That doesn't fucking work..." She looked at the bite, eyes narrowed. Kass turned around, "She wasn't bitten by a walker!"
Rebecca scoffed, "Oh, yeah? Why do you think we'd believe you?"
Kassidy snarled, glaring at the woman, "Because I've seen it before!"
"Yeah, and what if you're wrong?" Rebecca asked. "And she turns?"
The front door opened, revealing a girl with red glasses. She peeked her head out of the door, noticing Clementine, "Who's she?"
Carlos sighed, "Sarah! What did I say? Back inside!"
Sarah frowned and walked back inside.
Luke shook his head, "Look, I'm not going against you guys, but I know this little girl telling the truth. It was probably just a dog... Probably."
They all looked to Carlos for an answer as he stood up.
"So, what do you think?"
Nick took a step forward, "Was it a lurker?"
Carlos sighed, "I don't know. A bite like that... could be anything. Only one way to find out."
"How?" the balding man asked.
"We wait."
Rebecca scoffed. "What?"
"By tomorrow morning, if a fever's set in, we'll know she's going to turn. In the meantime, we can lock her in the shed."
"What?" Kass furrowed her brows. "She'll bleed to death!" She glared at Carlos, "I thought you were a doctor, huh? What kind of doctor can't tell a dog bite from a human one!? We have completely different jaw structures!"
Clem's eyes widened, "What about my arm? It needs to get cleaned and stitched and bandaged."
"The girl is in bad shape, Carlos!" Luke exclaimed, gesturing to the little girl.
"We have all that stuff inside the cabin," the man beside the pregnant woman said. "We could probably get by with-"
"Alvin!" Rebecca scolded. "Please."
"But, yeah. We can't do nothing," Alvin finished.
Carlos turned to Clem. "I'm not wasting supplies on a liker bite. If it turns out you're telling the truth, I'll clean it, and stitch it up for you in the morning."
"Look at the blood she's loosing," Kassidy snapped. "She'll be dead by then."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "It's better than us dying because of a bitten little girl," he retorted.
But Carlos didn't answer, and walked back inside.
Luke sighed, frowning down at the girl, "I'm sorry. It's the best we're gonna get."
Kass glared at him in response, scoffing as she spit on the ground, "Screw you."
Nick walked over to the bald man, snatching the rifle back from him.
"Finger off the trigger, son."
"I ain't your son!" Nick snapped.
Luke rolled his eyes, stepping up behind him, "Don't be like that, man."
"It's alright," the balding man assured. "Boy's got his mom's temper."
Nick looked back at Clem, "Come on."
Clem threw one last pleading look at Kass, who tried to tell her she had a plan, but without making it obvious, "Hey, if you're locking her in there, then you're gonna have to lock me up as well, assholes!"
Clem deadpanned, she wasn't expecting the plan to end with Kassidy getting thrown in the shed with her.
Luke, Nick, and Oliver looked at each other then Clem, and back to Kass who gave them all a look.
Nick scoffed, "Whatever. Get moving!"
"This is just a waste of time, you'll see," Rebecca huffed. "And when she turns and eats the other one, I ain't gonna be the one cleaning up the shed!"
"I think it's cute," Oliver joked, causing Rebecca to give him a look that said 'shut up.'
Kass glanced at Oliver then back to Rebecca, "No one's expecting you to. So why don't you just fuck off?" she snapped.
Clem looked up at Luke with pleading eyes, snapping lightly, "My arm REALLY hurts!"
Luke only sighed, "I can't imagine kid. Just hold out until morning and we'll see what we can do."
Kass huffed in response, "She won't make it until the morning! Please, you have to help her."
Luke shook his head, "I wish I could, I really do. But it's too risky. Sorry."
"If she's not bit, she's not bit. We can't tell till morning," Oliver added.
Kassidy looked away from them with an angry expression on her face. They made it to the shed and it was smaller than shw expected. Luke opened both doors. The shed had tools and a workbench.
Nick glared at the girls, gesturing to the inside of the shed with his gun.
Clementine and Kassidy let out an annoyed sigh and walked into the shed. The men closed both doors, leaving them in ttohe cold shed as raindrops fell from the sky, hitting the roof of the shed.
Clementine's arm was hurting and needed medical attention, or else it would get infected. Kassidy paced back and forth, angrily at what they did to them, "I can't believe they'd just lock us in here! You're just a kid!"
"Well, you insisted to be locked up in here with me," Clem retorted sassily. "Why did you?
"I didn't wanna leave you alone in the shed when there's god knows how many walkers are out there after that shot. Right now, we need to stitch up that arm, fast! There's gotta be a way out!"
The two girls looked around the shed for a small opening or hole to crawl through. Kassidy looked through a tackle box on the table and found a piece of thread, "We can use this to stitch your arm."
Clem sighed, "Great. Now, all we need is a needle, a bandage, and hydroperoxide."
"It's all at the house like that Alvin guy said, but how do we get out of here?"
That's when Clementine noticed something on the wall by the table. She walked over to it and noticed that it looked like the wall was boarded up recently. She tried kicking it, but it was too tightly nailed.
Kassidy saw a hammer on the workbench and grabbed it. She held out the hammer to Clementine. "Use this. It's easier," she said, smirking.
Clementine scoffed at her face and grabbed the hammer, taking the nails out of the wooden board. After she got the nails out, she kicked the board again and it fell off. They heard thunder and lightning in the sky and felt the cold breeze hit their skin, causing them to both shiver.
Kass nodded and was about to crawl through the hole again until Clem stopped her by saying, "Be careful." She grinned at the younger girl, "I'll be fine. Just don't let it bleed too much anymore. I'll be back," she responded as she crawled through the hole and outside.
Once she made it outside, she covered up the hole with the wooden board to make sure there was no suspicion from the group inside the house or from walkers. Kass looked to her right and saw a walker stumbling around in the woods. She snuck her way up to the cabin and saw every window had a light on, meaning that they were still awake. Well, that made this whole lot harder.
Kass made her way up to the front porch and saw Alvin and the bitchy pregnant woman, Rebecca, standing in their room. She got closer and eavesdropped on their conversation.
Rebecca was arguing with him, "It makes me feel like a fucking fool when we're not on the same page!"
"We are on the same page, Becca!" Alvin protested.
"Not out there we weren't! Not with the girls, I saw you get soft!"
Alvin sighed, "What do you want me to do?! Put a bullet in her?!"
"I want you to put your family first!" she yelled.
"That's what I've been doing! Just stop giving me shit already!"
Rebecca sighed, "I'm going to get some air." She walked out of the room and Alvin sat on his bed with his head on his hands.
Kass thought for a moment about maybe this guy could help her. He wanted to help when they were outside. She cautiously knocked on the window and that got his attention. He saw her and opened the window, "What the hell are you doing?!"
Kass huffed, "Listen, I'm not gonna hurt anyone. I just wanna help my friend. Her arm is gonna get worse if you don't help me."
Alvin shook his head, "No way kid. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything to help you."
"Please, I just need a few medical supplies to help her," Kass pleaded.
"Are you out of your mind?! Even if your friend wasn't bitten by some lurker, which she probably is, you can not be here!"
"Please. She's my friend. The only family I have left."
His eyes widened, "Look, I'm really sorry about your friend, but it's not my call, kid. It's the group's."
The teen cocked her head, "I saw when everyone was arguing, you wanted to help."
Alvin shook his head, "You didn't see anything. You need to leave before my wife sees you. Carlos will be there in the morning to help her."
Kass thought for a moment before continuing, "I'm sure your wife would be pretty pissed if she found out you were talking to me."
His eyes widened and jaw dropped, "You wouldn't!"
Kass just shrugged, "If you find me the stuff I need, I won't talk."
Alvin looked down, scoffing to himself a bit before looking back up at her and nodding. He closed the window and walked out of the bedroom door.
Kass waited for a good three minutes before he came back with what looked like a bandage. He opened the window and handed it to her, "Sorry, that's, uh, all I could find. And I grabbed a juice box, just in case she's thirsty."
Kass smiled, lowering her head, "It's alright. I'll find the rest on my own. And thank you."
"Okay, now you need to go." He shut the window.
Now all she needed is hydroperoxide and a needle. Kass made her way over to the front door and had been about to pick the lock when she heard voices on the other side. It was hard to tell who was talking, but somebody said something about a house meeting or whatever. The voices went away and Kass hoped that no one was by the door.
She waited for a second and began to pick the door. She unlocked it with ease and slowly opened the door. Kass peered get head inside and no one was around. She stepped inside and quietly shut the door to prevent them from hearing anything. She looked around and saw that candles were spread all over the place. From the tables to the nightstands. Kass heard some voices coming from the kitchen. So she tiptoed over to the door to eavesdrop on the conversation. Kass opened the door slightly and saw them standing there, talking about Kassidy and Clementine.
Nick shook his head, "I'm telling you guys that there's no way those kids survived out here by themselves."
"They both said that they were with a woman out there. Whoever they are, they might come here looking for them."
The older balding man sighed, "Well at least they're not with Carver."
Rebecca scoffed and asked him, "What makes you say that, Pete?"
"Because I don't think Carver would leave any of his men behind."
The woman rolled her eyes, "You don't know that, Pete. They could be lying!"
Luke shook his head, "Pete's right. They're not with Carver. I immediately knew that the girls weren't with Carver when I saw that washed up and the other girl bitten by a 'dog'."
"Oh, yeah, that problem in our shed. I ain't cleaning that shit up in the morning!"
Carlos looked around, "If it was a lurker, we'll know either by the girl screaming or when we open the door in the morning to see her eating her friend."
Kass couldn't listen to that anymore so she slowly shut the door and continued to look through the house for supplies. She made her way down a hallway, entering one-room she passed when she first entered the house. Kass went inside saw a desk with a notepad on it. A few pictures on the wall. A picture of a vase and...a picture of a Duck.
Kassidy thought about when Clem and Duck used to play together in the motel. She missed him, her father, and mother every day. No- she needed to stay focused. Kass realized that there was nothing else in the room, so she snuck out of the room and made her way up the stairs. The stairs creaked slightly and she stopped to make sure no one heard it. No one did.
Kass continued up the steps and the first thing she saw was a big fish on the wall. She entered one door and saw it was a bathroom. "There's gotta be some stuff in here..." she muttered to herself. Kass opened the mirror cabinet saw a needle, picking it up and inspecting it. "Looks clean to me."
Suddenly, Kass heard someone walking down the hallway. She acted quickly and hid in the shower. The door opened and Kass looked through the curtain to see was Rebecca, washing her face and crying.
"Please god. Let it be his!" she cried, before composing herself and walking out of the bathroom.
Kass sighed in relief, climbing out of the shower. She exited the bathroom and into the hallway, noticing another room at the end of the hallway.
With no other rooms to go in, Kass tipped toed over to it and opened the door slowly. When she opened it, she saw the girl in the red glasses, Sarah, and the boy with the scar, Oliver- they were talking. Sarah gasped when she saw Kass, causing her to shush the girl.
Oliver whipped around and widened his eyes, "You shouldn't be here."
Kass smiled at Sarah, ignoring Oliver, "Hi, there. Can you help me?"
"No, she can not help you," Oliver snapped back.
Sarah looked around, "My dad said he'd ground me if he found out I was talking to you."
"I swear, I won't say anything. I just need your help," Kass responded.
Oliver groaned, "Seriously, girl, get out. You're going to get Sarah and I in trouble."
"I mean..." Sarah spoke and Oliver widened his eyes.
Kass pointed outside, "That little girl outside, in the shed? She's my friend. Her arm really hurts."
"I really shouldn't..." Sarah started.
"She really shouldn't!"
"She's been bitten by a dog, and if it's not cleaned up, then she could... bleed to death."
"Sounds scary!" Sarah exclaimed.
The girl clearly hadn't been subjected to the cruel world that Clementine and Kassidy were brought in.
"Yeah. So, I'll fix her up, your dad won't have to, and no one will get hurt, but I'm just wondering if you have anything to clean a wound with? She really needs it. I bet it's with the rest of your medical supplies."
Oliver groaned again and covered his eyes. He probably knew Sarah was going to give in.
Kass smirked and stuck her tongue out at him to which he glared.
Sarah smiled, "Let me see if I can find what my dad uses when I get a cut."
Kass smiled back at the girl, "Okay, great. Thank you so much."
"I'm Sarah by the way."
"My name's Kassidy."
"Can we be friends?" she asked.
Kass paused before sighing with a smile, "Yes, we're friends."
Sarah smiled brightly, "Oh joy! I hope me, Oliver, and your friend can be friends as well."
"Hey, leave me out of this Sari" Oliver warned.
Kass stifled a laugh and turned to Sarah, "I'm sure she will... Once you get the medicine."
"Oh, right, sorry. I'll be right back." Sarah walked out of the door and Kass sat on her bed, waiting for her. She looked around her room and saw pictures of her drawings all over the walls. Kass thought to herself, 'Carlos hasn't taught her what this world is really like. He needs to or else she won't make it.'
Kass suddenly felt someone staring at her and turned to look at Oliver. "You know... She doesn't understand things the way we do," the scarred teen informed. Oliver added, "Carlos doesn't let her out much, either. Ever since..." he shook his head, "She doesn't know what it's like out there." The boy paused.
"Oh. Right! I'm Oliver," he introduced, sticking his hand out.
Kassidy cocked her brow, deadpanning, "I'm Kassidy. but what happened to 'We can't, Luke! Listen to Nick!' about shooting my friend?" she questioned, smirking.
Oliver frowned, "I'm just trying to...make Nick proud... I guess... You know what? I dunno why I'm explaining this to you..." he muttered, turning away.
"Sorry..." she snorted in amusement, eyes drifting downward to look at his scar.
"It's rude to stare, you know," he finally said after some time.
"How'd you get that scar?" she asked him. It looked like he flinched at the mention of it.
"A bad guy..." he finally replied, looking away.
The two sat in awkward silence until the door opened again. They jumped up and whipped around toward the door. It was just Sarah with the hydrogen peroxide. Kass smiled and reached out for it as she handed it to her.
"Here you go," Sarah smiled. "This is what dad uses. Now pinkie swear not to tell anyone," she held out her hand and pointed her pinkie finger.
How old was this girl? Five? Kassidy scoffed internally, holding out her pinkie finger and locked them together.
Sarah smiled at Kass, "Friends always trust each other. No matter what."
"Thanks again, Sarah," she slowly opened the door and scouted the hallway. Kass glanced back at Oliver and smiled at him.
She made her way out of the room, and snuck downstairs. She could overhear the arguing of the others in the kitchen, but it was muffled due to the closed door. She made her way over to the front door, staying quiet as she pushed it open. It creaked, but thankfully they couldn't hear it over the storm brewing outside.
Kassidy snuck out, noticing the walkers nearby. She ducked below the window, crawling towards the end of the porch, and then, staying low, hurried over to the shed.